Summer Indie Mart
I’ll be tabling on Sun. June 30th at The Summer Indie Mart run by @workshoppgh & @meshworkpress 11-4pm, 321 Pennwood Ave, Wilkinsburg PA
Wilkinsburg Made Holiday Crawl & Show
I’ll be tabling at the Wilkinsburg Made Holiday Crawl & Show this Sun 12/10 from 11-4pm!
My vending location is in the Wilkinsburg Train Station, 901 Hays Street 15221 I’ll have a curated selection of botanical & moth greetings cards, prints, original art and more!
Hope to see you there!!!
About the event
Join Workshop PGH for a fun local event with shopping, food, refreshment, diy & even a wreath/ tree pop up. We are teaming up with the Wilkinsburg CDC, local businesses and hosting this years Made in Wilkinsburg Show and an Indie Mart in the same day. Shop at the historical Wilkinsburg Train Station at 901 Hayes Street for 20 Wilkinsburg vendors & food trucks, then wander over to Workshops Studios for over 30 vendors, DIY and more food trucks. This event will be a blast and we encourage you to walk the 2.5 blocks between boths spaces, we will have a fun scavenger hunt between both and prizes too. Don't forget hot chocolates to keep you warm.
This event included 50 vendors and we will have maps of some other fun stops along the way. Join us for a fun day of shopping, making, community & treats.
Workshop PGH Studios, 321 Pennwood Ave 15221
Wilkinsburg Train Station, 901 Hays Street 15221
AAP New Member Exhibition at Brew House Association
Details are in for the AAP New Member Exhibition at Brew House Association! The opening is Thursday, June 29th, 6pm-9pm. Here is a link to visit the gallery https://brewhousearts.org/visit-us/
Hope to see you there!
"Survivors: A Conversation About Consent"
I’ll have some artwork in the art exhibit "Survivors: A Conversation About Consent"
April 1–29, 2023 Marketview Arts, Lower Level Gallery
Visit the event page here to learn more: https://bit.ly/3YUpa4z
This exhibit is presented during Sexual Assault Awareness Month—in partnership with YWCA York, Marketview Arts, and YCP's Title IX Office—to raise awareness of the impact of sexual assault on survivors.
Join artist and survivor Erica Gaimari and YWCA York on April 1 at 5:30 p.m. to kick off Sexual Assault Awareness Month with an exhibit of artwork created by survivors to raise awareness of the impact of sexual assault. Light refreshments will be provided.
Honored to participate in this and so excited to meet the other artists at the opening Saturday, April 1
@marketviewarts @ywcayork
Associated Artists of Pittsburgh 2023 New Member
I’m honored to join Associated Artists of Pittsburgh as a new member in 2023!
I'll be showing this mixed media painting "Mining Salient Events" at the New Member Exhibition in the summer.
The exhibit will be held at the Brew House Association in Pittsburgh’s Southside neighborhood.
Dates: June 29-Sept. 9, 2023 more details to follow
22” x 30”
watercolor, gouache, acrylic, colored pencil, graphite and charcoal on paper
Pop Up Shop
I’ll be running a pop-up shop for the month of February - March at the
Lawrenceville Market House! I will be selling botanical eco cards,
prints and original artwork! Hoping to be there 11-7 Thursday- Saturday
and 12-4pm Sunday. With the pandemic as a factor I will post
on my Instagram the days I am there.
LINK to Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jesspenaillustrator/
Lawrenceville Market House address:
4112 Butler Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Tiny Talks: Living Room Editions May, 20th, 6pm
I rarely speak in detail about my journey and work as an artist. I am excited to finally compile a presentation about my work over the course of the last 20 years for the tiny talk @smallmallpgh series! The talk is virtual and will take place Thursday, May 20th at 6pm. I’ll post a link to the tickets when they become available.
I also want to include tips on how to create your own opportunities as artists!! The majority of my paying gigs as an artist have been found through either reaching or networking. I'll discuss that and what the process is like to create a body of work!
If your interested 50% of the ticket sales go to the small mall (an incredible organization that supports local artists) and the other goes to supporting my work!
Hope to see you there!!!! #smallmallpgh #artisttalk
Reflecting on Life Experiences
One of my favorite experiences ever was volunteering and sleeping in this bookstore in Paris Shakespeare and Company when I was younger! You can sleep there at night (they have beds in the bookstore) as long as you volunteer for 2 hours a day, help them open and close. You have to write your bio to leave in their library. There is a cubby area with a typewriter for that!
I was there with many people, age groups from all over the world! A sweet man who worked as a street clown and was from Portugal. A few street performers, a DJ from London, an older poet from America, loads of different people sharing the same space.
At the time I had run out of money from traveling and relied on the kindness of the other Tumbleweeds especially Giorg a young man from the Netherlands who always had chocolate, bread and cheese he would share!
I learned how to retrieve fruit and veggies that had fallen on the floor at markets from a few who were living off the funds they received from busking. Since there weren't showers we would rely on public showers! What a beautiful experience I would suggest it to anyone who is lost or searching!!! It was such a positive experience!!!
Tumbleweed Link
Botanical Mural for Fulton Commons
I’m currently working on a botanical mural for the co-working space Fulton Commons on the Northside. Below is the rough sketch!
Eco Botanical Cards
Currently I have some eco greeting cards for sale at Make + Matter. It’s a collaborative studio and storefront by three Pittsburgh designers: Flux Bene, Kelly Lane and Otto Finn.
Being An Artist. Being Seen ?
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be an artist. The last few years I’ve taken the time to cultivate new bodies of work and push myself in my studio practice. There is still this sense that I’m uncomfortable with my work being seen at all. I wonder how other artists navigate this anxiety about being seen? Do they experience the same sense of dread yet excitement when a piece of theirs sells or is liked by others? Or is it just a historical devision within my psyche that continues to compartmentalize and try to remain hidden and isolated?
I’ve always been attracted to art that is autobiographical. That mix of vulnerability and courage to share art that IS a part of yourself. I remember experimenting with photography and video and discovering Francesca Woodman’s work. My favorite poets (Emily Dickinson, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath) have always been women who reside in duality. It always felt to me as if their work was palpable almost pieces of themselves cut and placed for others consumption.
I’ve been listening to The Jealous Curator’s “Art for you Ears” podcast a lot the the last few months this helps me feel less alone. The amount of time and risk involved in being an artist is immense. Essentially you are charting a completely unique life that may never end in the dream you wish for. For me it’s to continue making exciting work and also make a good living from it while maintaining balance in my professional and personal life. Watching my husband (John Peña check out his work he’s incredible) navigate the art world within Pittsburgh has been very helpful and has also awarded me with less anxiety about how fast my perceived “success” as an artist has to come. I remember being in my 20’s making work and being completely devastated when none of it sold little did I know this is part of the process and continues to be. I love having newly found realistic expectations of how to build a career as a working artist. It’s mixed with my fairy tale optimistic view that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
This is my lifeblood right now.
How do you do it?
Francesca Woodman, On Talking to Vince
Botanical Eco Card Sets
Working on producing new eco card sets that will be for sale soon!
City Paper Best of
I’ve been nominated for Best Visual Artist in the City Paper! If you like my work please vote here. Thanks!!!!!!
Amber Waves Farm
LOVED their hand drawn signage!!!
Had such a lovely time teaching a Botanical Illustration Workshop at Amber Waves Farm this weekend! Everyone blew me away with their illustration skills! Bummed I didn't get a picture of Adrienne with her painting she was finishing it up later that night but it was INCREDIBLE!! Check out their site here!
The Process of putting together my section of the group exhibition Story Tellers.
This is one of the first diorama's I've ever made it includes a small canoe I whittled from driftwood while in TN last year. Really enjoying working in 3d. Currently it's for sale at Percolate Gallery
This is a box that is the story behind one of my paintings each piece represents a memory or incident that occurred in my past.
Last minute changes realizing having my mini wall on the floor would be too precarious so working on a more structurally sound object.
Before I made mega desk
During the time I've been working on Story Tellers I received some freelance work from Amber Waves Farm this is one part of being an artist and illustrator you have to be ready to juggle when a good job comes along!
One thing about having your studio at home is how lovely it is to be surrounded by animals :)
All of these pieces and a few more will be included in the Story Tellers exhibit hope to see you opening night!